Guess I'll teach myself the drums now.

One-Two, One-Two.

I tap my fingers on the couch as Sora just watches, sitting next to me.

Bison and Texas are both at the far end of the room. Sitting on some stool, Bison is looking as uncomfortable as ever, Texas looking as uncaring as ever.

Emperor is sitting on the countertop, Yith right next to him on a stool.

...

"We're here!"

The door slams open. Exusiai and Croissant plow through before awkwardly falling onto the couch, making Sora jump off.

Exusiai looks up to me from the couch, "H-hey Az!"

I stay silent, knowing what's coming.

...

"I clearly said you had 3 days before the Sausin festival" Emperor spouts from across the room, "And yet you somehow took the most amount of time possible to deliver the package."

"...But we got here on time..." Exusiai mumbles.

"4 more minutes and you would have been late..." He says annoyed, "But a job's a job... You got it done even though you should have been on a break, so I must congratulate you for that."

"...Baws!" Croissant gleams, jumping to hug the penguin.

"So I'm letting you off with nothing but a warning." He says jumping off the stool to avoid the hug, "Don't. Do It. Again... Got it."

"Yup, we got it!" Exusiai says, completely ignoring the harsh tone. Croissant gets up from her missed hug and gives a thumb up.

...

Sora gets back on the couch, slightly leaning onto me. Emperor hops back up onto the countertop.

"Okay... So now that we're all finally here. Let's make sure we know what our roles are tomorrow." Emperor spits.

"We will have two information teams. Exusiai and Sora will be getting info from a captured mafioso, while Texas and Az will be overlooking the city for any activity."

"Croissant and Bison will be on the ground. Once we get all the information we need, we meet up and begin poppin' their asses. If anything goes awry, we'll deal with it then and there, no contest... Clear?"

"Mhmm." Me and Texas both say alongside everyone else giving a nod.

"...Alright then. We will stay here for the night and head out tomorrow." Emperor says getting down from the stool, "I'll have Yith wake you up, don't bother with those annoying-ass alarm clocks."

Yith nods from behind the counter.

Emperor gets up, "Get a decent amount of sleep tonight, we'll need energy tomorrow. C'yall tomorrow."

He walks out the room, presumably to wherever his bed is. Yith follows, though breaks away after getting past the door, leaving just me and the girls.

"I'm going to head to my bed, good night." Texas says, being the first to leave.

"Wait! I forgot where the beds were here! Show me!" Exusiai says, running after her. Croissant slowly follows behind, probably forgetting where the beds were as well.

Sora, Bison, and I are the only ones in the room now.

...

I take a book off the table and turn up my music slightly, Sora drifts into sleep as she leans further into my chest.

"...Bison, could you get me a drink please?" I ask from across the room.

"Can't you just get it yourself?"

"I don't want to wake Sora, she seems to be tired, so I want her to get some rest right now."

"Alright," Bison gets up and heads towards the bar, "So you're sure she's asleep?"

I pause my music and take a look at her...

"Yeah, she's asleep... Why do you ask?"

...

"Well... this might be a little awkward to ask, but... I was wondering if you two are, well, you know... a thing..." Bison barely manages to get out.

"A couple? No... Thinking about it, I don't really know to describe our relationship. We are definitely closer than friends, but both of us wouldn't say we're together. We're just in this sort of in-between phase I guess."

"Well... Good to know then. You guys just always look like your together, from what I've seen at least. Even before you arrived at the bar she mentioned you most days." Bison explains, "But anyway, what drink do you want?"

"Anything that isn't strong."

"Got it."

The only sound that fills the room is the light clashing of bottles, turning into a solemn pour.

...

I can feel Sora's breathing on my chest.

...

Thinking about it, I should really re-evaluate my relationship with Sora.

The more I look at it, the more I see how we really do resemble a couple... The nights where we'd go to someplace one on one together, how she had just casually fallen asleep on my chest in front of the rest of the gang. Anyone looking in from the outside without context would probably...

...

Am I even ready for a relationship? I never even bothered to think about it until now, but can I even trust myself with someone else's well-being?

As much as I want our relationship to stay like this, it can't.

Something will have to progress between us, whether good or bad, thi-

"...Hello? Anyone there?" Bison waves his hand in front of my face as he tries to hand me my drink.

"Oh sorry, just thinking about things... thanks." I say to him taking it.

"No problem." He replies.

I take a sip of the drink. As Bison heads back to his chair.

...

Eventually, me and Sora's relationship cannot just be considered "more than friends", something will have to budge, and I can't be caught by it off-guard. I was the one who dreamed of this us being this close, and I can't back away from my own doing.

I take another sip of my drink and glance at Sora.

But for now, let's just focus on tomorrow...

"Beautiful isn't it?" I ask Texas.

"It is." She replies overlooking the skyline.

...

"You stopped smoking right?" I ask her.

"Yeah, a short bit after you left. I've started to eat chocolate as a sort of replacement, it seems to be working so far." Texas answers, "Why ask?"

"...I was just thinking back to the old days. Back in situations like this, we would always light each other cigarettes, compare brands, and other stuff I'm sure you remember better than me." I respond.

...

"Yeah, those days were pretty fun looking back on it. Exusiai always fake coughing as hard as she could whenever boss lit up with us." She looks down at the streets, making sure nothing suspicious is happening, "But nothing gold can last, I was going to quit smoking one day, it just happened to come while you weren't present."

I light a cigarette, "Well, I'm glad you were able to get past smoking. I can't be bothered to as of right now. I'll probably end up quitting one day too, but I don't see it anywhere close."

I join her in looking down towards the streets.

...

"They're ants from up here." Texas quietly says, "I can barely make out any faces, let alone mafiosos."

"Do you want to move down a couple of levels?" I ask.

"...Might as well" She answers.

"Alright, we can stop here." I say, looking down towards the ground.

"This distance is good." Texas agrees as she joins me in looking down.

...

"So we just now wait?"

"Mhmm, at least unti-"

A beep is heard from Texas's pocket. She pulls out her phone to see Exusiai calling, she answers.

"YooHoo Texas! I caught myself a little mafioso here, and I'm going to have him call up his friends to "check their plans" and make sure that "they're on the same page". I trust that you'll memorize their plans better than me, so I got myself on line with you! How smart am I?" Exusiai says just barely louder than the muffled screams of who I can only assume to be the captured mafioso in the background.

"You're a genius." Texas says dryly, peering out the window, "And I'll prove my own by keeping lookout for anyone suspicious."

"That works for me!" Exusiai says while Texas mutes ourselves on the phone, looking over to me with a sigh.

I just pat her on the back and join her overlooking the window.

Over the phone, a gun is cocked and presumably put across the mafioso's head as his phone begins to start a call.

The line picks up and the captured man acts surprisingly well for having a gun pointed to his head.

The first thing mentioned is the location of the mafiosos. Texas and I are able to spot a fair bit of suspicious people while the call drags on. We're able to check across the city as the positions are slowly revealed across the phone.

There are four teams, most have four members, but one only has three.

We're able to spot all the teams, and we allow the mafioso to do the rest of our work now that we've gotten our job done.

"Where is the leader again? I forgot last time and I don't want to get yelled at again." The captured mafioso says convincingly.

"He's somewhere in Lungmen, I don't know the exact whereabouts, but I know that he's accompanied by 2 others." A muffled reply is heard across the phone.

...

Texas and I look out and spot the group of the three mafiosos we saw earlier.

The moment we confirm their position, they head into an alleyway, their black suits making them impossible to see.

...

"You ain't gonna kill me, are you?" The mafioso is heard saying across the phone.

"Of course not. But you gotta take a nap for me like a good boy~" Exusiai replies before a heavy hit sound comes across the phone.

"Didya get that Texas?" She asks.

"We did, the leader has gone into an alleyway maybe 110 or so meters away. If we cut him off, we should be set." Texas replies.

"Alright then! It's a plan." Exusiai responds, "We'll meet up in the city center and you can take us to the alleyway, Az will scout it out beforehand and we'll hop in and clear em' out!"

Texas just mumbles a confirmation before hanging up the phone.

I stuff my cigarette into the trash can before starting down the stairs, Texas following suit.

"We can just blow up the wall on the right side and come in guns blazing." I say to the now four-person group after scouting.

"Good, Good! This'll be over in no time." Exusiai says excitedly.

"It'll be the first time I get to fight with Az in a year." Sora lightly mumbles, covering her face.

"When should we attack?" Texas asks.

"Right now." I reply.

(Originally) Uploaded on May 29, 2022.